City Circle

For the planned metro line in Copenhagen, see City Circle Line. For the tourist tram in Melbourne, see City Circle Tram.

City Circle
View across Circular Quay, the halfway point of the city circle line.
Overview
Termini	Central
Stations	6
Services	T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line T3 Bankstown Line
Operation
Opened	20 January 1956 (1956-01-20)
Owner	RailCorp
Operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Depot(s)	Eveleigh
Rolling stock	S, K, C, M & A sets
Technical
Track length	6km
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge

The City Circle is a system of largely underground passenger railway lines located in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, that make up the heart of the Sydney passenger railway network. The lines are owned by RailCorp, a government agency of the state of New South Wales, and operated under Transport for NSW's Sydney Trains brand. Despite its name, the City Circle is of a horseshoe shape, with trains operating in a U-shaped pattern. The constituent stations of the Circle are (clockwise): Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James, Museum and back to Central.

History and description

Museum station was built using the cut-and-cover technique

The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield, (left) and the network as it is today. The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment, though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built.

The original concept for the City Railway was part of a report dated 1915 submitted to the government by John Bradfield upon his return from overseas study,^[1] with work commencing the following year.

The City Circle was built in stages. The first stations to open were Museum and St. James, which opened in 1926 as part of the initial electrification of Sydney railways. Next was the "western limb" through Town Hall and Wynyard, which opened in 1932 in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This section contains four tunnels. Two connected to the Harbour Bridge, while the two City Circle tunnels terminated at Wynyard. In 1956 the dead ends at St. James and Wynyard were joined and the "missing link", Circular Quay – was opened. Central and Circular Quay are above-ground stations (Circular Quay is elevated, directly underneath the Cahill Expressway), while the remainder are below ground. Several unused railway tunnels also exist. The former tram tunnels at Wynyard, and other stub tunnels at St James are well known.

Services and operations

Current service patterns generally consist of trains from the South and Inner West lines operating around the City Circle in a clockwise manner via Town Hall station and proceed onto the Airport & East Hills, and Bankstown lines. This track is known as the "City Outer". Trains from the Airport & East Hills and Bankstown lines generally operate around the City Circle in an anti-clockwise manner via Museum station and proceed onto the South and Inner West lines (using the "City Inner" track). A set of flying junctions at Central enable this pattern to be varied.

Prior to the integration of the Eastern Suburbs line into the Illawarra Line in 1980, Illawarra line trains also operated around the City Circle.

Trains on the Western and Northern lines usually do not proceed around the City Circle but instead proceed across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and vice versa. During weekend trackwork, trains from the City Circle may go to Penrith, Cronulla/Waterfall or Epping via Strathfield.

In 2005, when CityRail completed its most recent estimate of station boardings, the City Circle accounted for 221,160 weekday entries and exits, equivalent to over 55 million annual trips.^[2]

It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during peak hours, 6 minutes at other times and 8 to 10 minutes on weekends.

Gallery

Platform 18 and 19 at Central station
Town Hall – platform 4 (Illawarra line platform)
Wynyard station entrance, Department of Railways building, York Street
Circular Quay station
St James platform 1
Museum platforms

References

↑ 50 Years – A Long Time Wylie, R.F. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, June 1971 pp140-143
↑ Region 9 Ministry of Transport Retrieved 2008-08-06

External links

Sydney Trains Network site
NSW rail City Circle

Public transport in Sydney

Train

Sydney Trains	T1 North Shore, Northern & Western T2 Airport, Inner West & South T3 Bankstown T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra T5 Cumberland T6 Carlingford T7 Olympic Park

Sydney Metro	Northwest Rapid Transit (operator) Sydney Metro Northwest (under construction) Sydney Metro City & Southwest (proposed)

Infrastructure	List of Sydney railway lines List of Sydney Trains railway stations Sydney rail rolling stock

Bus

Services	Rapid routes Suburban routes Local routes NightRide Liverpool–Parramatta T-way North-West T-way

Operators	State Transit Busabout Busways Forest Hillsbus Interline Punchbowl Bus Company Transdev Transit Systems

Ferry

Sydney Ferries	F1 Manly F2 Taronga Zoo F3 Parramatta River F4 Darling Harbour F5 Neutral Bay F6 Mosman F7 Eastern Suburbs Harbour City Ferries

Other	Captain Cook Cruises Church Point Ferry Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises Hawkesbury River Ferries Manly Fast Ferry Palm Beach Ferry

Light Rail

L1 Dulwich Hill
CBD & South East (under construction)
Parramatta (proposed)

Point-to-point

Ticketing

Government

Railway lines in New South Wales

Main lines

Broken Hill Main Northern Main South Main Western North Coast South Coast

Country branch lines

Operational	Berrima Binnaway-Werris Creek Blayney-Demondrille Boggabilla Bombala Canberra Cobar Coonamble Grenfell Gwabegar Hay Lake Cargelligo Medway Quarry Mungindi Naradhan Newcastle Oaklands Parkes to Narromine Picton-Mittagong loop Pokataroo Sandy Hollow-Gulgong South Maitland Railway Stockinbingal-Parkes Temora-Roto Tottenham Troy Junction-Merrygoen Unanderra-Moss Vale Walgett Warren Yanco-Griffith

Closed	Ballina Barraba Belmont Boorowa Brewarrina Burcher Camden Captains Flat Corowa Crookwell Dorrigo Eugowra Holbrook Inverell Kunama Kywong Merriwa Molong-Dubbo Morpeth Mount Hope Murwillumbah Newnes Oberon Rand Rankins Springs Richmond Vale Railway Taralga Tocumwal Toronto Tumbarumba Tumut Wallsend Westby

Sydney lines

Commuter rail	Airport Bankstown Carlingford City Circle Cronulla Eastern Suburbs East Hills Epping-Chatswood Main Suburban North Shore Olympic Park Richmond South West

Goods lines	Sydney Freight Network Southern Sydney Freight

Closed	Camden Kurrajong Rogans Hill Ropes Creek Royal National Park Sandown

Proposed or under construction

Inland Railway Maldon–Dombarton Sydney Metro Northwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest Western Sydney Freight Line

Tourist & heritage railways

Glenreagh Mountain Railway Lachlan Valley Railway New South Wales Rail Transport Museum Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Richmond Vale Railway Skitube Zig Zag Railway

Sydney landmarks

Buildings / structures	Admiralty House Archibald Fountain Australia Square Cadmans Cottage The Cenotaph Chifley Tower Citigroup Centre International Convention Centre Deutsche Bank Place Dr Chau Chak Wing Building El Alamein Fountain Finger Wharf General Post Office (No. 1 Martin Place) Government House Governor Phillip Tower Harbour Bridge Hyde Park Barracks King Street Wharf Kirribilli House Long Bay Macquarie Lighthouse Mint Observatory Old Government House Opera House Overseas Passenger Terminal Parliament House Parramatta Gaol Regimental Square Queen Victoria Building St Andrew's Cathedral St Mary's Cathedral Sydney Tower The Toaster Town Hall War Memorial Warragamba Dam World Square World Tower

Precincts	Barangaroo Central Park Chinatown Darling Harbour Green Square Kings Cross Martin Place Pitt Street Mall Railway Square The Rocks

Parks and nature	Auburn Botanical Gardens Balls Head Reserve Berowra Valley National Park Bicentennial Park Blue Mountains National Park Botany Bay National Park Centennial Park Central Gardens Nature Reserve Chinese Garden of Friendship Cronulla sand dunes Farm Cove Field of Mars Reserve Fred Hollows Reserve Garigal National Park Garawarra Conservation Area Georges River National Park Heathcote National Park Hyde Park Ku-ring-gai Chase Lane Cove National Park Macquarie Place Moore Park Prospect Hill Royal Botanic Gardens Royal National Park Sydney Harbour National Park Sydney Park The Domain Western Sydney Parklands

Cultural institutions	Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Museum Australian National Maritime Museum Manly Art Gallery and Museum Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Sydney Powerhouse Museum Sea Life Sydney Aquarium State Library Sydney Conservatorium of Music Taronga Zoo

Sport	The Australian Golf Club Randwick Racecourse Rosehill Gardens Racecourse Royal Sydney Golf Club Stadium Australia State Sports Centre Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Football Stadium Sydney International Aquatic Centre Sydney International Regatta Centre Sydney Motorsport Park Sydney Olympic Park Wentworth Park

Transportation	Anzac Bridge Bradfield Highway Broadway Cahill Expressway Captain Cook Bridge Central station Circular Quay City Circle Cross City Tunnel Eastern Distributor George Street Gladesville Bridge Gore Hill Freeway Liverpool–Parramatta T-way M2 Hills Motorway M4 Western Motorway M5 Macquarie Street North-West T-way Norton Street Opal card Oxford Street Pacific Highway Parramatta Road Pitt Street Princes Highway Pyrmont Bridge Roseville Bridge Southern Cross Drive Spit Bridge Sydney Airport Sydney Buses Sydney Ferries Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney Harbour Tunnel Sydney Trains Tom Uglys Bridge Warringah Freeway Westlink M7 William Street

Entertainment	Capitol Theatre Entertainment Centre Entertainment Quarter Fox Studios Australia Luna Park Lyric Theatre Plaza Theatre The Star State Theatre Sydney Super Dome Sydney Theatre Theatre Royal Wet'n'Wild

Beaches	Avalon Bondi & North Bondi Bronte Clovelly Coogee Cronulla Manly Maroubra Newport Palm Beach Tamarama

Islands	Bare Clark Cockatoo Fort Denison Garden Goat Rodd Shark Snapper Spectacle

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.